Chapter 1: Blending In
"Seriously? This school?"
It is early morning at around 7 a.m., standing before a sidewalk after getting out of a black minivan. He feels slightly naked, not wearing any armor and mask, and discouraged from bringing most of his hidden arsenal for assassination purposes because he has to act like… a normal teenager. Other than having a young face, a blunt-diamond-pointed chin, light olive brown skin, and squinty eyes under slightly unkempt black hair, he is wearing a black V-collared short-sleeved tee with gray creases on the edge of its sleeves, printed with a symbol of two Chinese characters merging at the center; along with a pair of slimming brown joggers and white Onitsuka's.
Slinging a white shoulder bag over his shoulder, the onlooking students inside the school all have their eyes on him as if he is fresh off the boat, some giving him weird looks of all sorts. For an assassin who has dealt with darker and scarier life-threatening things, acting one's age is a whole lot more difficult than he thought, especially after taking the place of his late predecessor at an early age.
'Okay…so far so good,' Death Dealer thought to himself, noticing the students around him. 'My papers were in order, able to shake off any suspicion of fraud. I should not be nervous, but why is this feeling not going away?'
"Well, look who we have here?"
Behind him, he hears an alluring feminine voice with a cherry tongue. He turns and nearly flinches from the sight of a young bombshell girl with red hair, emerald green eyes, and rosy pink lips with fair skin, so modestly dressed in a tee and skirt.
"You don't look like you're from the neighborhood, are you?" The girl asks with her alluring voice.
"Well, yes. I just got into this country with my uncle. I'm enrolling here for schooling purposes, of course," Death Dealer smoothly lied with ease. "My name is Drake, Drakken Zheng. And you?"
"Drakken, huh? I nearly called you Dragon, my mistake," the girl chuckled amusingly. "Mary Jane Watson. Call me MJ. Welcome to Midtown High."
"Thanks," Drakken shortly replied.
Then, the bell of the school rang, making all of the loitering students to quickly head inside the campus.
—
Everyone entered their respective classrooms, but not everyone seemed too eager for school. The air suffocates with awkwardness as Peter keeps his head down on his table and faces away from Gwen and Harry who are at the table parallel at the other side. The cool redhead Mary Jane notices something between Peter and his friends, sensing tension around them, but would rather not try to reopen any old wounds. And a minute later, Dr. Aaron Warren starts entering the classroom to start the session.
"Morning, everyone! Hope you all are ready to start the day," Aaron inquired, only to receive groans and cringed looks among his students including his star pupil Peter Parker. "Okay, well, try to look like you all are ready. Because starting today, you have a new classmate who will be joining us for the rest of the school year."
"Wow, gee, who?" says the snobbish cheerleader Sally.
Entering the classroom was a guy. Cool, dark, and handsome. Like any other new student, there is a mysterious air of ambiguity around him. Although, that did not bother the snobbish Sally, who seemed to be somewhat attracted to him instead.
"Young man, would you please introduce yourself to the class?" Aaron asked.
"Yes sir. My name is Drakken Zheng. I come from the mainland, and currently I'm staying with my uncle in Chinatown here. Pleased to make your acquaintance," Drakken introduced as he faced the class with a slight bow.
"Hooo my, is he some young celebrity? 'Cause he's hot!" Sally moaned, much to Randy's annoyance.
"Hey Drakken," Mary Jane waved out to him. "Come over here!"
"It's you again, I guess we're seatmates here," Drakken nods, coming up close to her and Peter. "Who's this?"
"He's Midtown High's top nerd, Peter Parker," Mary Jane introduced, nudging Peter's side.
"Uhh yeah! Call me Peter or Pete!" Peter nervously replied, shaking Drakken's hand. "Drakken, was it?"
"Drake is fine too," Drakken replied before noticing Liz, who was looking at Peter for a short split of a second before locking eye contact with him and then shrinking with her head down upon their eyes meeting. 'Odd…?'
"Okay, let us begin with class!" declared Aaron, popping his whiteboard marker.
—
Meanwhile, in an underground base below Manhattan's Chinatown…
"Master, he successfully intercepted the target."
"Excellent," the strange master replied, holding three marble orbs in his hand.
"Your son however, it would seem that he's made his move on one of our operations," the armored servant reported.
"He will fail his foolishness. As long as I am alive, he won't be so reckless," the master points out before staring at a group photo of him, his wife in oriental clothing, his two children, one being a 10-ish year old child and the other being a toddler sister.
—
Lunch break starts shortly after going through different subjects in different classes for the morning, and all the students dispersed into clusters or clumps of all kinds of cliques like the in-crowd, the outcasts, and the leftovers. And being a new student, the feeling is ambiguous, especially when you are trying to relive a life you never had for the first time. However, that hurdle was easily crushed. After contemplating and choosing a table to stay in, Peter and Mary Jane suddenly sit on the same table and catch him by surprise. He stood straight up from his seat with eyes wide open, making some onlookers awkwardly watch him with weird stares and stiff poses with food close to their mouths.
"Oh, whew, sorry," Drakken apologized, slowly shrinking back into his seat. "So much for good impressions."
"Hey! Nothing new about that, trust me Drake," Peter assured, taking a chomp on an unwrapped hamburger in his hands.
"You seem like this is your first time in an actual school. Is it that different in China?" Mary Jane curiously asks, sipping on a straw-stabbed carton of apple juice.
"Frankly, yeah. It is like night and day here," Drakken said. "It's also expensive in the place I used to stay in Shanghai, much like New York in some respects."
"True, can't argue with that," Peter adds.
"Ohhh Drakkennn!"
In the midst of their casual convo, Sally, the self-proclaimed "Queen Bee" of the in-crowd calls out to Drakken out of nowhere, followed by Randy, Kenny, Glory, Liz, Hobie, Sha Shan, and Flash.
"Uhhh, hi?" Drakken replied in a slightly confused tone. "What is this?"
"Ahem. Hi, I'm Sally, this is my boyfriend, Randy," Sally quickly introduces.
" 'Sup," Randy replied with just a word.
"This is Hobie!" Sally introduces a guy with dreadlocks and then pulls a Latina with long hair close by the arm. "And this is Liz, my best friend."
For some reason, the atmosphere turned quiet, dead quiet and awkward after Liz and Peter quickly turned their faces away upon making instant eye contact. The Latina clutches onto the side of her elbow and slowly caresses it before just standing behind her.
"Ummm—"
"This is Flash, the football star of Midtown High!" Sally introduces. "And next to him is Sha Shan."
"Hey, I ain't number one anymore. We forfeited the award, remember?" Flash clarified with a facepalm.
"Nope. You're still number one to all of us. Because you did what was right," Sha Shan assured.
"Wow, never thought you guys are a thing," Drakken replied in a shocked tone.
"So are Kenny and Glory actually," Sally continues, referring to the big bald Asian guy and a girl with short brown hair and dark brown skin.
"Say wuh?" Drakken looks at Sally incredulously.
"Hehe, yeah, bro," Kenny replied. "So you're a Zheng eh? I'm Kenny Kong."
"Cool. Drakken Zheng is my English name, actually. I have a real Chinese name that I use in my family," Drakken adds.
"Aaand, what is that?" Glory curiously asks.
"Zheng Xiao Long. My real name translates to "dragon" in English," Drakken explains.
"Well then calling you Dragon, should not make any difference, won't it?" Mary Jane playfully suggests. "Sounds like a nickname to me."
"A cool one, at that," Peter adds.
"Ahem! Soooo, where are you from again, Drakken?" Sally curiously asks.
"Shanghai, the New York of China, in my opinion," Drakken straightforwardly replied. "Though the differences are staggering in many aspects, the physical aspect is more or less similar."
"Oh you're going to love New York better! We got lots of places that you'd love to see. Wanna try to hang around with us?" Sally offered.
"I guess that seems okay?" Drakken sheepishly replied before turning to Mary Jane and Peter. "Can they come along too?"
"Uhmmm, Drakken, you know why we only picked you?" Sally retorted in a snobbish tone.
"Uhhh no? Does it even matter?" Drakken straightforwardly replied. "Besides, they're cool too, right?"
Sally paused with her mouth wide open and choking out of annoyance from coming up with a good reason, showing obvious signs of intolerance towards Peter for some reason. That was until Randy intervened and just rolled with it.
"Hey, he's still new. Give it a rest, Sal," Randy calms her down.
"Ughhh, fine. We can head to the Silver Spoon for starters, right after class," Sally gave in with a groan.
While the in-crowd tries to invite the casual trio, on the table behind them by the corner of Drakken's eye, he spots a silent and awkward couple, with one being the designated secondary target, Gwendolyn Stacy, daughter of the primary target, Captain George Stacy.
'Not yet. Not just yet…'
—
"Are you sure this will truly work, my fellow doctor?"
In an underground base located within an abandoned subway, the last three nefarious geniuses, Doctor Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus, and the master tech wizard, Phineas Mason the Tinkerer; and Quentin Beck aka the fake magician Mysterio, plan their next careful move, now that they lack the manpower and muscle for their meager team to work with. After Doc Ock escaped from the fiasco in trying to control all of New York's surveillance tech, he decides to hatch smaller and more feasible plans as of now that leaves less room for high risks, especially with just two people.
"Patience my friend. There is much to rebuild after that last setback. But I must say, I commend your swift tactics in escaping prison before you were even captured, Mysterio. Rather intelligent of you," Doc Ock commended.
"Oh please, 'tis but a simple trick among many in my beck and call!" Mysterio replied in a dramatic tone.
"Yeah yeah yeah, no need to get into character too much," Tinkerer calms him down before stumbling upon a treasure trove in his monitor. "Well hello, beautiful!"
"What is it, Phineas?" demanded Doc Ock.
"Gentlemen, seems we got ourselves a good place to start!" Tinkerer smirked.
The two other geniuses look at a monitor, showing people from Oscorp bringing in strange advanced weaponry carried by some anonymous group of people that look like beekeepers.
"Hohohoho, perfect. A perfect act of vengeance on the very people who've wronged me…!" Doc Ock snarled.
—
"One 17!"
As agreed during lunch break, the in-crowd decided to invite Drakken, Peter, and Mary Jane into hanging out at the Silver Spoon, shortly right after classes are dismissed for the day. And now in the simply modern and casual setting, everyone's all seated one banquette with two tables merged adjacent to each other because of their sheer group size. On one table sat the boys Drakken, Randy, Kenny, Hobie, Flash, and Peter; and on the other table sat the girls Liz, Sally, Glory, Sha Shan, and Mary Jane. However after waiting a while, their order was called by the bubbly barista.
"That's us!" Drakken replied, jumping up from his seat.
"Dude, what are you doing? Flash or someone else should go, you don't have to," Hobie insisted.
"Hey!" Flash barked, making Sha Shan lightly chuckle.
"It's fine, really. Thanks for the offer, but it's the least I can do," Drakken assured.
"Lemme lend a hand," Liz kindly offers, standing up as well.
"Okay then," Drakken nodded, going with her to the counter.
Before Liz could go follow Drakken, Sally lightly pulls her close and whispers into her ear.
'You know, you should try to go for him,' Sally suggests.
'W-What?' Liz stuttered, looking a little confused. 'Wait, you don't mean—?'
'Why not? He's cool, he's hot, does not seem like your average guy or even a nerd. Unlike someone we both know,' Sally whispered with her head and eyes motioning towards and referring to Peter, who seemed occupied with Flash's teases and whatnot.
'Sally, I don't know. That's going a little bit too far.'
"Hey Liz, you coming?" Drakken called.
"Uhh yeah! Wait up!" Liz quickly leaves, just before Sally could scold her.
And when they both went to the counter, Liz takes the first batch of drinks and sandwiches on a tray while Drakken checks and asks for some more paper napkins after noticing that there's not enough for everyone. However, just as he momentarily looks back towards Liz, someone callously bumps into her causing her tense arms carrying the tray unstable with drinks and dishes jigging about on the tray in her hand. But thanks to his rigorous training as Death Dealer—coined by his recent foe Spider-Man— he sees a tall stool and uses his shoe and leg to quickly grab, drag, and push it close just under Liz nearly between her legs and holds it with his shoe firmly gripping onto a bar near the feet of the stool so that she sat flat on the stool and manages to keep all their stuff on the tray together.
"Whoa-whoa! Whew, that was close. Huh?" Liz stammered, suddenly noticing a seat under her while carrying the tray.
From the sheer speed to the swift simplistic style of rescue, Drakken has got all eyes inside the cafe on both him and Liz, even though only few managed to see the complete moment as best they could without blinking. Even both Peter and Mary Jane were shocked from his quick save— especially Peter who had eyes wide open and his lower jaw dropped hanging.
"Hrrrrnghh, mind if you—stand up now please?" Drakken kindly asks, breaking a little sweat as he balances on one foot and holding the weight of both the stool and Liz. "I can feel my toes cramping up a bit…!"
"Oh gosh—I'm sorry!"
After Liz immediately gets back up to Drakken's request, she quickly goes to lay the tray on one of the tables, followed by Drakken who came with the other tray of food.
"Thank you, for the save. Sorry about whatever happened back there," Liz apologized. "Wasn't watching where I'm walking."
"It's fine. Accidents happen. And what's happening now is that food's finally here!" Drakken quipped with a smile, unknowingly making his eyes squint a bit as he smiled cheek-to-cheek.
"Oh uh, yeah!" Liz replied, turning her face away and covering her mouth for some odd reason.
"Well, anyways, about time we dig in!" Peter replied, helping himself with a triangular crustless sandwich and his frappuccino.
"Yeah, but man, Drake! Were you working out? That chair must be way too heavy to carry with just feet!?" Flash points out before drinking his hot coco.
"I work out. I trained in martial arts," Drakken briefly replied, though noticing some curious looks in other people's eyes, trying to come up with a lie. "I know, I'm your typical Asian kid from the movies. I practiced JKD and a little bit of the Shaolin styles back home."
"Pfft, so wait, you stayed in the mountains or something, guhahahah!" Flash snorted before getting an elbow to his gut from Sha Shan beside him. "Ow!"
"Actually, a monastery—in the mountains. Isolation does lead to lesser distractions, and it was an enriching and tough experience," Drakken bluffed, knowing that he actually got his training as the Death Dealer from his predecessors, a martial arts exclusive only to those who are next in the line of service to the master.
"For how long?" Sally curiously asks.
"Long enough to just build some muscle on my once wimpy body," Drakken shrugged.
"Wow, that's some dedication you have," Liz brushes off a bit of her hair as she sips on her frappuccino with chocolate chips on top of the whipped cream.
Out of nowhere, the sound of a cellphone's ringtone rang from Peter, who took his phone out and answered some sort of call. Suddenly, Liz notices it and turns her face away while Peter excuses himself to take the call.
"Sorry guys, I gotta go. Trouble's coming, and my boss is yelling for me to go, for the photos," Peter moped.
"Carry on, Tiger. Be careful," Mary Jane assured.
"Thanks, and sorry guys," Peter apologizes before bolting out of the cafe for the venue.
"What's he doing?" Drakken asks out of curiosity.
"As always, Stinky Pete's got an exclusive job as the Daily Bugle's photographer, most of the time being the photographer of that web-slinging Spider-Man," Sally answered.
"Oh really?" Drakken thought out loud as it suddenly piqued his interest.
"Yeah! And it's the very reason Liz—"
"Th-That's enough, Sal!" Liz intervened out of nowhere.
"What's wrong?" Drakken wondered.
"I-It's complicated," Liz answered briefly.
"No it isn't, Liz. You know what happened," Sally brushes Liz's hand away gently before facing Drakken. "Look, long story short, Drake: Stinky Pete and Liz used to—guuugh—date, okay?"
"Say what now?" Drakken replied in a mixture of confusion and shock.
"Yes, they were together once, but that's all in the past now since Lizzy here finally broke it off," Sally adds.
After Sally gladly blabbed out her frustrations on her friend's behalf, Liz is suddenly silent, making the atmosphere suddenly awkward until Flash coughed his throat out.
"Ahem, well, typical Puny Parker, always out there and never here! Going for the dough," Flash blabbed in a teasing tone.
"Speaking of Parker, his buddy seemed to have quite the contender for attention," Hobie spoke.
"Contender?" Drakken and others wondered what he meant.
"Didn't you read? There's another masked guy there. He just recently fought the Webhead outta nowhere or something," Hobie adds.
"Ohhh right! That guy… he calls himself uhhh, Death Dealer!" Flash exclaimed.
Upon hearing the funny coined name, Drakken nearly spat his coffee out, if it weren't for his training to keep calm no matter the circumstance. He silently listens while keeping a normal poker face.
"Um, Drake, are you okay?" Mary Jane asks.
"Hm? Yeah! Never better," Drakken replied.
—
Meanwhile, in the Tricorp facility, a daughter corporate entity under the banner of Oscorp, it is currently being stormed and invaded by two of the nefarious geniuses part of Spider-Man's rogue gallery: Mysterio and Doctor Octopus. They easily break through the security and defeat all of the guards and turn a couple of advanced weapon tech into obsolete trash thanks to Mysterio's hidden fake magic arsenal.
"Perfect. Now we must search for the device before law enforcement arrives," Doc Ock points out.
"Law enforcement? Why must we wait when there's a hero in a skin-tight suit? It's only a matter of time before he realizes," Mysterio points out.
"My ears are burning! I sure hope the guy you're referring to is meeee!"
Appearing just on the ceiling on all fours with his back against the ceiling is the one and only Spider-Man, their worst and most annoying enemy.
"Finally, after a long game of hide-and-seek, I found two of my favorite genius inmates in one place!" Spider-Man quippe, webbing up Doc Ock's mouth.
"RRRRRRRMPH!" Doc Ock growled before ripping off the webbing with his metal tentacle. "Annoying little pest!"
"Awww, I love you too!" Spider-Man quipped while dodging and smashing some of the mechanical gremlins Mysterio deploys.
"My eight-limbed friend, I shall go on ahead and get the device! For now, keep that pest at bay!" Mysterio suggests, leaving atop a flying dragon that he just conjured up out of nowhere.
"How on earth was he able to fit something that big in his tiny pocket or inventory!?" Spider-Man quipped before dodging a metal tentacle with ease because of his Spider Sense.
—
Now, just minutes later after Peter left the cafe for his urgent work as a photographer for the Bugle, the hangout concluded and everyone went their separate ways with Drakken and Liz being the last ones left on the sidewalk, with the former accepting to escort her back to her place.
"Well that was some cup of coffee I never thought I'd get on my first day," Drakken lengthily quipped while walking beside a somewhat downcast Liz.
"Yeah, I guess so…" Liz trails off nervously, caressing her arm.
"...Hey, whatever your friend Sally is doing, please be rest assured. I may not know what really happened but—"
"Actually, Petey—I mean, Peter… was the one trying to dump me— back then…" Liz paused, facing away from Drakken. "I think I was—just a little fed up, and frustrated, after everything that's going on. And after breaking up with Flash I—"
"Wait, you dated Flash?" Drakken asked, getting her nod as a silent answer. "Oh…gosh I–I'm sorry."
"No no, it's cool. Things can change, and actually I did, when I saw who Petey is for who he is," Liz smiled from the thought until she fell into a frown in a split second.
"...But something happened, I'm guessing?" Drakken nervously adds.
"Y-Yeah, basically, that. Man, I sound like a mess, don't I?" Liz briefly put, describing her messy love life.
"We all go through messes, it's a given. And sometimes it's difficult to clean it all up," Drakken blabbed.
"You sound like you've gone through messes yourself," Liz nudges his side.
"Yeah…I have my share of bad pasts too," Drakken replied back.
He paused, close to losing his nerve after all that blabbing until Liz clears her throat and asks a curious off-topic question.
"Ahem, um, so um, I'm just wondering: where did you learn martial arts?" Liz asks.
"I learned in a dojo. My uncle referred me through a recommendation, and I accepted to enroll in it," Drakken replied. "And before coming here, I spent a few years in a monastery studying more martial arts."
"Wow, you must've love doing that, with all that dedication!" Liz comments.
"Yeah, though some of it was forced upon me," Drakken replied.
"Seriously? Why?"
"It's um, a long story really…"
—
Meanwhile, back in the Tricorp facility…
"Missed again!"
"Stay still! Spider-scoundrel!"
Forgetting to check his watch while having a good crimefighting time, he plays with his last foe Mysterio after incapacitating Doctor Octopus and having wrapped him up in webs to the ceiling. Though he had to bash his way through the mechanical dragon to stagger the fake magician, dodging several bolts of energy shooting out of his gauntlets– seems like a new tech part of his arsenal.
"Man, where did you get those blasters! I would KILL to have those! Well, not really kill, but you get my point!" Spider-Man quipped as he dodged in hand springing and backflipping actions before firing his own barrage of web bullets, hitting and trapping Mysterio to the wall upon impact. "Call me next time if you wanna do this again, always available!"
Now, he finally checks his cellphone, noticing the time to be more than an hour than his promised date.
"Crud! I'm late, so late!" Spider-Man cried.
"Oh, sure you are," Mysterio groaned in an informal tone, stuck to the wall in webs with his helmet cracked.
—
Meanwhile, along the sidewalk and streets of Manhattan, just at a bustling intersection during the nightly rush hour…
"Gosh! So, your uncle works for a huge global conglomerate, all the while managing a small restaurant of his own?" Liz exclaimed with a beaming smile.
"When you put it that way, yeah, in that sort," Drakken shrugged.
"Wow, why do you sound like you're not into it?"
"Because I'm not. I was sorta included against my wishes," Drakken replied.
"But why? Not to like take any sides or anything, but isn't it considered an honor to work for something really big?" Liz points out. "I've seen a bunch of dramas that sound like your situation, so I thought, you know..."
"Dramas exaggerate, sometimes in a big way, sometimes small. And although it was against my wishes, I got no choice because it is not just my honor. It is my destiny," Drakken replied, staring at his clenched fist.
'Gee, I wish I could have a destiny like that. At least, I just have to accept whatever happens…'
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Liz yelped before noticing the pedestrian traffic light turn green. "O-Oh look! Time for me to go! I-I can go on my own from here. My place is just a block away. Thanks for the talk, it was fun!"
"U-Uh I…"
Before Drakken could say any more, Liz runs down the pedestrian lane for some odd reason, much to his dismay until the communicator hidden in his ear ticks. His face stiffened to a poker jaded look like a reflex as he responded.
*Krrk!*
'Come to me, at once!' the voice of his master ordered.
'Yes, my liege. I shall return,' Drakken responded, tapping and holding onto the communicator in his ear.
—
"...Well, I guess I broke another promise, as always."
Just like any other typical day with crime fighting, it always gets in the way of his personal life. The Silver Spoon closed, his friends left, and it's around 9 in the evening, a little late out in the night time for many wandering cityfolk.
"At least I brought my stuff with me, don't have to change on the way home," Spider-Man thought out loud.
As he turns around, however, he sees a familiar bolting silhouette hopping over the buildings under the bright moon.
"Ughhhh, here we go again. Sorry Aunt May," Spider-Man sighed and groaned before swinging away behind.
—
"My liege, I am at the location." Death Dealer replied, scanning the scene with his night-vision visor.
At a pier near the docks, he comes upon a wreckage of splintering crates, dented metal boxes, and bullet-dented cargo crates. Amidst that, a stench of death and blood was present with a litter of dead bodies, many of them punctured with bullet wounds too severe to recover, some among them being his comrades in black spandex and light armor; and others wearing strange black and white oriental masks and suits.
"...Another war. Greed, such an annoying thing," Death Dealer scoffed and sighed as he looked at one of his own dead, staring into his soulless sunken eyes.
*Ratatatatata!* *Boom!*
"...Seems like I'm not too late."
He then parkours his way following the sound of gunshots and battle coming from near the warehouse docks where the shipments come around. At the site and source of the sound, he entered the fray and barely dodged a bullet coming from the enemy gang. In return, he tossed a smoke bomb into the ground to use smokescreen as his demoralizing cover, taking down several enemies with slashes and lacerations at their vitals using his sickle and dagger.
"Reinforcements! They've arrived!"
From his back, several armed men wearing a uniform similar to his with black half mask on their lower faces, pop out with their morale gathered, yelling in a different language.
"The situation. Tell me briefly," Death Dealer demanded.
"Those Demons. They ambushed us and were aiming for our weapons supplies! We can't let them succeed, so we intervened, but they outnumbered us, as if they were ready for our arrival!" Says one masked ninja-like officer.
"They shall know the consequences looking down on our master," Death Dealer hissed, brandishing his sickle and dagger connected by a chain. "With their own lives."
After the pausing period of confusion on the enemy's side, Death Dealer took to the battle and led the team of advanced ninjas to slay a multitude of the masked men called the Inner Demons, made notable by their demonic masks of oriental origin. However, just as they turned the tide of battle…
"P-Please! Have mercy on me!" one masked Demon begged for his life, pinned on the ground.
"Fool," Death Dealer muttered, raising his sickle to slash him.
*Thwip! Thik!*
"Whoa! Hold up there, boy! He surrendered!"
With acrobatic agility, he drops his weapon and backflips and then tosses three sharp shuriken stars in a spinning throw towards whoever shot the sticky thread on his sickle, realizing it was the bug pestering him in his previous mission: the infamous Spider-Man.
"Whoaaa, these are so cool! Where'd you mint these babies?" Spider-Man geeked out, holding the shurikens between his fingers.
"Ughhhh," Death Dealer groaned before resorting to brandishing his ninja tanto short sword.
"Hey hey, wait!" Spider-Man paused before noticing the masked man pinned under Death Dealer point his open hand at him with energy flowing in it. "Dude! Below you!"
But just as he looked, the goon shot a blast of black and white energy that pushed him off his body, but was unable to knock him down due to his acrobatic prowess. However, that did not save him from the pain inflicted at his side.
"Argh!" Death Dealer groaned, clutching the side where his liver rests.
"Hah!" Spider-Man does a falling flying kick, hitting the masked Demon in the mask, fracturing it upon impact and instantly knocking him out cold. "Hey, Dealer! You alive?"
"Why should you ask?"
"What do you say we put this on hold? Fend these guys off, then I kick your butt. Deal?"
"I am not in the least pleasant with that proposal," Death Dealer barked before noticing a group of twenty more of those masked goons coming in front of them and the side. "But…it seems I have no choice but to accept."
Before converging, Death Dealer and his rallied few officers collide with the enemy gang, in addition to accepting Spider-Man's assistance. The battle took a little longer, but they were able to succeed, though some of his officers have suffered one casualty and several non-life-threatening injuries. After piling up the corpses of the enemy and their fallen comrades, sped up with the aid of Spider-Man…
"Whew, well, that wasn't so hard! Was it?" Spider-Man patted dust off his hands. "...I'm sorry, for the people you lost, and stuff."
"Don't be. We are enemies. This was only a temporary situation," Death Dealer shot a glare at Spider-Man.
"Awww, for a moment there I thought we were having a bond, a special one as frenemies at least," Spider-Man quipped in a playful tone.
"Reinforcements have arrived, sir!"
Coming from the warehouse, a large squad of armored soldiers in black armor with advanced guns, led by one man of bigger bulky build with machetes in the place of hands, entered the scene, as requested by some of the men inside.
"Well well well, you beat me to it again, kid," the man with machete hands grunted.
"Razorfist…" The Death Dealer said nothing else and just stood there.
Meanwhile, without saying a word, Spider-Man quickly left the scene and watched from above.
'Hmmm, well this is quite the development here. I think I should watch this a while longer before wrecking their gang next,' Spider-Man thought to himself, standing on the metal beams in the shadows.
—To be continued
A/N: Sorry guys for not being able to write much. Got really busy with school, burnout sometimes that drained my motivation. But don't worry, I'm still here and alive. If anyone is reading this, I thank you for reading, really. (Also, the words in bold are indicating a different language, just to not confuse you)
Take care of yourselves, everyone!
